mercredi, août 31, 2005

You know the one — the friend who's a reality check and says what you probably didn't want to hear, but definitely needed to. This is the friend you consult on sticky subjects like matters of the heart. And the one you ask these fun questions:-Is he really that into me?-And (after the break-up that blindsides you) what's the proper way to move on emotionally?-Later still, how do you handle loneliness if you're someone who hates "me-time"?

Thanks to my personal WTPs. I'll be back for your advice on Stratego, arpeggiation, and brokering peace in the Middle East. Or maybe I'll just stick to subjects you actually know something about...

These are for you:Q: Why does Snoop Dogg carry around an umbrella?A: Fo' drizzle.

Q: What does Snoop Dogg use to get his whites white?A: Blee-atch!Snoop Dogg jokes shamelessly nicked from nerdboy

I heard American politicians describe Katrina as "our tsunami" and "our Hiroshima" and rolled my eyes. The simple fact is that Katrina is neither in terms of the scope of death and destruction. Tsunami: 310,000 dead; Hiroshima: 120,000 dead.

But I thought that this comment, from Scott Cowen, the president of Tulane University (in New Orleans), was worth sharing:

It is difficult to describe what this situation feels like for those involved. It is surreal and unfathomable; yet, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Our focus is on the light and not the darkness.

Kermit the frog and the Muppet Show are among my happiest childhood memories. I even sang "Rainbow Connection" in elementary school chorus.A creation of the late puppeteer Jim Henson, Kermit made his earliest appearances in the mid-1950s on the Washington, D.C. show "Sam and Friends." He became a household name in 1971 on Sesame Street as a news reporter interviewing nursery rhyme characters.

Jim Henson chose Kermit as his signature character because the puppet was the lightest in weight, and thus the most comfortable to use for extended periods of time.

The prototype Kermit was created from a green ladies' coat and two ping-pong balls for eyes. The early Kermit was a sort of lizard-like creature; his first appearance as a frog was in the television special "Hey Cinderella" in 1969.

Quotes:"It's not easy being green.""Hello, Kermit the Frog here with the Sesame Street news.""Hi ho. Kermit the Frog here."

mardi, août 30, 2005

While at the gym tonight, I saw images of the damage from hurricane Katrina, and miles of houses underwater in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. I recoiled at the devastation and how powerless people are in the face of nature.

On my way home, while stopped at a light, I noticed the car in front of me rocking. That's because a very large man in the passenger seat was beating the hell out of a child in the back seat. There's no doubt in my mind that the child was being abused. And I'm queasy when I think about how powerless I am to do anything about it and the sick, sick part of human nature that compelled the man to do what he did.

Missing: 2 ft., 8 lb. monkey wearing blue pantsThe bulletin issued by police in the southwest Ohio town of Springdale describes the subject as two feet tall, weighing eight pounds, clad only in blue pants and prone to sleeping in trees.

Dillion, a circus monkey, fled into a nearby woods early on Monday after being frightened by a train whistle from tracks near where the circus was performing in Springdale, in northern Hamilton County.

Trainer Philip Hendricks, who is part of the Hendricks Brothers Circus, says Dillion, who has a white face, brown body and is wearing a leash, is usually confident in new surroundings but the train whistle sent him scurrying.

The circus is leaving town Thursday morning and Hendricks is worried that his monkey won't be found before then.

lundi, août 29, 2005

The first rule of Trivia Blog is - you do not talk about Trivia Blog.The second rule of Trivia Blog is - actually, go ahead and talk about Trivia Blog.Third rule of Trivia Blog, someone gives the correct answer, the question is over.Fourth rule, answers go in the comments section.Fifth rule, one question at a time, fellas.Sixth rule, no google, no cheating.Seventh rule, questions will go on as long as they have to (i.e. 24 hours).And the eighth and final rule, if this is your first night at Trivia Blog, you have to comment.

dimanche, août 28, 2005

Forget about Coke and smile. Now, you can have a twix and "The Iliad," no matter what time it is.(I read about this on Parisist and finally found the story in English. )

Can't Wait for a Book? Paris Can HelpReaders craving Homer, Baudelaire or Lewis Carroll in the middle of the night can get a quick fix at one of the French capital's five newly installed book vending machines.

Stocked with 25 of Maxi-Livres best-selling titles, the machines cover the gamut of literary genres and tastes. Classics like "The Odyssey" by Homer and Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" share the limited shelf space with such practical must-haves as "100 Delicious Couscous" and "Verb Conjugations."

"Our biggest vending machine sellers are 'The Wok Cookbook' and a French-English dictionary," said Chambon, who added that poet Charles Baudelaire's "Les Fleurs du Mal" — "The Flowers of Evil" — also is "very popular." Regardless of whether they fall into the category of high culture or low, all books cost a modest $2.45.

Friday night, Denisse took me to a party with amazing sangria. Her friend Dean commented on how different that gathering was from parties back in undergrad days ("There's no jungle juice, and the women aren't as slutted out as they were in college.")

The most interesting (but pathetic) dynamic I witnessed Saturday: The young twenty-something women who were absolutely beautiful but also incredibly insecure. It makes me glad to be the age I am and that I have never hidden my intelligence to get a man to like me.

Saw David J's Cabaret Oscuro ("a very dark, highly visual, starkly theatrical presentation in the best Bauhaus tradition...[A] contemporary take on the avant-garde cabaret of old Paris, Weimar and Berlin,") at the Casbah tonight.

I was skeptical when the opening band set up and a xylophone and trombone were put on the stage. My doubt was well founded.

But David J. was phenomenal. The archetypal Englishman — scathingly witty and goofily unfettered by self-consciousness — played with a cellist (Joyce Rooks) and pianist. "Androgyny" got the evening going, followed by "Joe Orton's Wedding." But my favorite parts of the set came with "Pretty," [I'll] "Mess Up" [Your Life], and "Dress Sexy At My Funeral." I don't know the second-to-last song he sang (perhaps "Pulling Arrows From Our Heels" or "Who Killed Mr. Moonlight"?), but that captivated me as well.

Having never owned the requisite uniform (corsets, chains,and chokers and an amulet ... and turkish cigarettes in a black coffin lunchbox), I was amused by his send-up of "Goth Girls In Southern California" and his comically sarcastic — but beautiful — version of "Bela Lugosi's Dead."

Still, you could almost feel the goths drooling when he made a coy allusion to the fact that Bauhaus is re-forming and will be recording a new album and touring later this year.

mercredi, août 24, 2005

Denisse and I got our sweat on tonight in back-to-back salsa moves and street moves (hip hop) cardio classes. We laughed out loud when Cy ordered us to shimmy and shake our cleavage during the open-v step.

Which leads me to the quote of the evening: "Shake what your mama gave you. Or, if you're like me, what you bought."

mardi, août 23, 2005

I've listened to the song many, many times in the past two weeks. I assumed it was about a woman until tonight. Perhaps it's the first person manner in which Cole speaks. Or that he clearly loves the person to whom he's speaking. Or that I'm an impossible girl.Trigger HappyI love your head, I love the way you hold your headBecause you`re youngand you know itThere ain`t nothing you can't doBecause you knowthere ain`t nothing you can`t doI love your head, I love the way you hold your headBecause you knowthere is no connection between oldand what`s newAnd there ain`t nothing you can`t doOh, nothing at allAnd you know that gun is loaded,sure you doSummertime blue, summertime blueYes you know that gun is loaded,sure you doIf not for you

The way you walk, I love the way you wear contemptfor my sortOh, should I give you my money?A steady hand, a little trigger happyangry little manOh, pull the trigger take it all, oh you take it allBut you know that gun is loaded, sure you doSummertime blue, summertime blueAnd you know that gun is loaded, sure you doI love your head, I love the way you hold your headBecause you're young, and you know itA steady hand, a little trigger happy?And we`ll tell you how to liveThen we`ll take away the reasonAnd we wonder why we wonderHow you`re not the way that we were

My curiosity piqued, I started looking for live show reviews, where I might find some context via Lloyd's remarks about the song. I stumbled on this narrative of a recent show:

Moving to a delightfully gentle trickle of an intro, Lloyd began quietly singing "Trigger Happy" from Love Story, with the charming, 'I love the way you hold your head because you're young / there ain't nothing you can't do.' At the end of this song, which was clearly written for his son, he added to the closing line of 'how you're not the way that we were', a comment on his son's taste for rap: 'with your Eminem, you're not the way that we were, with your 50 Cent,' before adding slowly, half-speaking 'Which is not to say we got it right.'

"Just as Keanu Reeves fought against the powers of evil, a priest comes to help people fight against sin. There is a battle out there," explained Father Jonathan Meyer, associate director of youth and young adult ministry for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.

He made the comments in an interview with Catholic News Service about a new vocations recruitment poster being distributed by his archdiocese. Father Meyer said it got a huge response. "They were going like hotcakes. Young kids wanted them to hang in their bedrooms, high school students wanted them to hang in their lockers," he said. "That is invaluable. If we can get kids to hang a picture of a priest in their room, we've done something huge for vocations." Via Miriku

Met Chad and Denisse at Nunu's tonight for drinks and then it was off to Transport.

After the superfreak of the world (who — naturally — wouldn't go away and who was all up in my grill) sat next to me and proceeded to get half naked, Jimmy, Mark, and Darren rescued Rogelia and I from said freak. That experience was only slightly mitigated by an unexpected compliment from a total stranger. The bottom line: It's cheaper to get wrecked at home and Transport is only as fun as the people you bring with you.

Time to get some serious zzzs before Casey and I meet Jennifer and Huck at Con Pane in a few hours ...

vendredi, août 19, 2005

"A healthy body is the guest-chamber of the soul; a sick, its prison."-Francis Bacon (1541-1626), English philosopher, statesman, spy, freemason, and essayist.

I finally love my body and am comfortable in my own skin. Part of it was the Harry experience. But a bigger part is that I've lost 50 pounds since Christmas, in a healthy and sustainable way.

I love that I'm strong, that my muscles are toned, that I can run on a treadmill without feeling like my heart's gonna explode right out of my chest, and that my clothes hug my curves in all the right places.

It feels amazing to have taken control of the one area where success has eluded me all my life.

Even more good news for sexually active single people...In the American Journal of Health Behavior, [researchers] note that one in five adults in the U.S. currently has an incurable sexually transmitted disease. Evidence suggests that using a condom can protect against STDs, but perhaps not if used incorrectly.

I've been thinking more seriously about cutting meat out of my diet. After reading this article, it seems like now is as good a time as any to stop eating beef.

And don't even get me started on how lackadaisical we Americans are about our food supply ... we really are sheep compared to the europeans. I smile when I think about much of the grafitti I saw in Italy in April 2001 — it was in Firenze and railed against genetically modified food.

The USDA said it released documents to the American Meat Institute and the consumer group Public Citizen showing that federal inspectors filed 1,036 noncompliance reports from January 2004 to May 2005 involving the removal of the brain, skull and spinal cord of cattle aged 30 months and older. The materials are considered to carry the highest risk in spreading the brain-wasting disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

Humankind goes on burning the bridges in front and behind us without apology, our own worst enemies, God help us all.

And maybe this is the part I find most distancing about my president, not his fanatic heart - the unassailable sense he projects that God is on his side - we all have that. But that he seems to lack anything like real remorse, here in the third August of Iraq, in the fourth August of Afghanistan, in the fifth August of his presidency - for all of the intemperate speech, for the weapons of mass destruction that were not there, the "Mission Accomplished" that really wasn't, for the funerals he will not attend, the mothers of the dead he will not speak to, the bodies of the dead we are not allowed to see and all of the soldiers and civilians whose lives have been irretrievably lost or irreparably changed by his (and our) "Bring it On" bravado in a world made more perilous by such pronouncements.

Surely we must all bear our share of guilt and deep regret, some sadness at the idea that here we are, another August into our existence, and whether we arrived by way of evolution or intelligent design or the hand of God working over the void, no history can record that we've progressed beyond our hateful, warring and fanatical ways.

We may be irreversibly committed to play out the saga of Iraq. But each of us, we humans, if we are to look our own kind in the eye, should at least be willing to say we're sorry, that all over our smaller and more lethal planet, whatever the causes, we're still killing our own kind - the same but different - but our own kind nonetheless. Even on vacation we oughtn't hide from that.

If ever I write a personal ad, it will include a line about my desire for a partner with Bono's ardent commitment to social justice. My friend Diana put it best: "How many guys can talk about world peace and not come off like a trite Miss America contestant? He sings and speaks with passion and conviction, and that is incredibly sexy."

U2 handed top Portuguese honourIrish rock band U2 have been awarded Portugal's highest honour for their humanitarian work. President Jorge Sampaio bestowed the Order of Liberty honour on the group hours before they went on stage for a concert in Lisbon on Sunday.

Before presenting U2 with their honours, Sampaio said: "Over the last 25 years you have shown that it is possible to combine the pleasure of artistic creation with civic and humanitarian intervention to help build a better world."

mardi, août 16, 2005

Man forgets wife at gas stationA Macedonian man left his wife at an Italian service station and only realized he had driven off without her six hours later, news agency Ansa said.

The couple, who were travelling with their 4-year-old daughter, pulled over for petrol in the coastal city of Pesaro as they were heading back to their home to Germany. After filling the tank, the husband drove away -- without noticing that his 30-year-old wife, originally from Georgia, had got out of the car to go to the toilet.

The woman, who had no money or documents with her, contacted the police who eventually traced her husband to Milan, some 340 km (210 miles) north of Pesaro, Ansa said. The husband told police he had not missed his wife because she always sat in the back of the car with their daughter.

lundi, août 15, 2005

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."-Margaret Mead (1901-1978), American anthropologist

Twenty-five years ago, Solidarity, the first independent trade union in the former Soviet bloc, was born in Poland. Political and economic tensions spilled over in Gdansk on Aug. 14. Led by Lech Walesa, 17,000 workers went on strike in the Lenin shipyard and red and white became a symbol of resistance.

10,000 opposition activists were jailed and dozens were killed in clashes with police during the three-year campaign for economic, political, religious, and cultural freedom.

Walesa won the 1983 Nobel Peace Prize and on Dec. 9, 1990, he became the first freely elected president of Poland in 50 years.

My weekend was fun, and filled with interesting experiences with old (and new) friends:

Partying in Golden Hill on SaturdayBantering with Cath, who has lived in the Midlands for six years -- she's solid!Giving Aaron an eyeful at Sabbat after knocking heads with someone from the Retro daysSitting with my mouth agape as I watched March of the Penguins on Sunday afternoonSeeing Brandon and Cath briefly before the French connection came overLaughing until my sides ached as les voyous cheered, booed, and hissed through Jeopardy!

dimanche, août 14, 2005

"Naturally, the common people don't want war, but they can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. Tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and endangering the country. It works the same in every country."- Herman Goering, (1893-1946), Nazi and founder of the Gestapo, at the Nuremberg Trials

Bret Easton Ellis' new book, Lunar Park, got panned by the NY Times. I doubt that will keep it from being a bestseller, though.

The problem with this novel is not that it is a fast, lurching ride to nowhere. Of course it is; it's a Bret Easton Ellis novel. The problem is that it does not have the honesty to admit that it wants to be more, the faith that readers will accept more or the courage to try to be more. It is the portrait of a narcissist who is, in the end, terminally bored with himself; that it may also be a self-portrait doesn't make it any more true.

samedi, août 13, 2005

I just finished "Almost French," by Sarah Turnbull. The book is about culture clashes between an Australian journalist and her new home. It's essentially a tale of a fish out of water. Her deadpan humor, coupled with her insight on la vie Parisienne, have given me quite a bit to think before I take the leap and move to Paris.

"[F]amiliarity breeds compassion and even affection. Quite simply, living side by side you can't pretend they're not there."

Geraghty and I had a thought-provoking conversation about tolerance and social justice this week. She made the point that it's often those with the most issues (and self-loathing) who seek to control the behavior of others.

I agreed, and told her about the movie Kinsey. John Lithgow portrays Kinsey's father in the movie and says the following: "The zipper provides every man and boy speedy access to moral oblivion."

Kinsey's father was a fire-and-brimstone preacher who railed against sexuality and pleasure in any form, and inadvertently led his son to become America's seminal sex researcher.

The city began releasing the histories - a mosaic of vision and memory recalling the human struggle against surging fire, confusion, and horror - this morning. They were compiled by the New York City Fire Department beginning in October 2001, but to this date, no one from the department has read them all or used them for any official purpose.

Over the last three and half years, The Times has obtained some of these records through unofficial channels, and they can be found on the Web at www.nytimes.com/sept11. These include the dispatch tapes, nearly 100 of the Fire Department oral histories, and a log of calls to Emergency Medical Service dispatchers that were channeled through the 911 system.

The Rolling Stones have taken a rare break from sex odes to record an antiwar song called "Sweet Neo Con," chiding Condi Rice and Mr. Bush. "You call yourself a Christian; I call you a hypocrite," Mick Jagger sings.Via the NYTimes

mardi, août 09, 2005

a couple of glasses of cabernet with A.vinta crackers with nutellawham! on the stereostories of crushes, coming out, and not going to a certain barastro profiles on swoon.comconversations about her past lovesmy wedding albumletting go of judgementsconfessions about our mothersfilling our own voids and making full circles, not incomplete complementsrealizing that in one case, it wasn't about "they," but "him"affirming that we've got the goodsacknowledging that it will be hard to find our equalshope for future lovesfeasting on the sweet smell of night jasmine as I walked back upstairs

lundi, août 08, 2005

A friend told me today that "letting someone be who they are is the ultimate sign of respect. In short, the greatest gift [my husband has] given me is to let me be the person I am. I try to let my kids be the people they are and respect them for who they are."

So there I was on Dumbarton. I picked up my lunch and then headed over to Woolworth's to get some candy to take home to my brother. At the front of the shop, by the newsstand, stood two old guys (or as they would be called here, OAPs). One was holding the Daily Record newspaper, the other was reading his own copy of Celtic View. The conversation I witnessed was as follows:

One senior man who fell in love at first byte on Match.com told the service "if a legally blind, bald, one-legged old man can find love online, then anyone can."

In spite of this man's experience, I'm not looking to make a love connection online. At least not yet.

But the universe is trying to tell me something. This article was in my gmail inbox today, in a newsletter I get that has nothing to do with dating and relationships:

Don't date for security or comfort. Many women feel they need to start dating right away, either as a way to forget their pain, or because of the sense of security it brings. These are bad patterns to establish. Dating is not therapy. You should date when you're ready to find someone to complement your life, not because you need someone to save you from it.

At some point, it will be nice to have someone to complement it. But for now, it's time to spend some quality time with the best male in my life, my Golden Retriever Casey.

samedi, août 06, 2005

It's the sixtieth anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.Hiroshima was decimated on Aug. 6, 1945. Nagasaki followed on Aug. 9, 1945.

Asked for his first thought after the July, 1945 test explosions in the Nevada desert, top scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer quoted from his favorite Hindu poem, The Bhagavad-Gita: "I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."

The Genbaku Dome, the only building still standing after the Enola Gay dropped her payload on Hiroshima:

My Top 10 MC List for Sac Men 10) To the mechanic I took out to dinner who said his nickname was the “Lube Specialist” - next time tell me about your wife and son before you invite me over. Better yet, before I take you out to dinner at all. It was nice – albeit unexpected – to meet them, I’m sure. I’m not sure your wife shared the sentiment.

9) To the best friend of my last boyfriend who propositioned me during his house-warming party - you were my boyfriend’s best childhood friend. Remind me not to take friendship/loyalty lessons from you. You just moved in with your girlfriend two weeks prior – why? Opening a proposition with, “Hard nipples turn me on,” isn’t going to make me tear off my clothes. Finally, the aforementioned proposition happening directly in front of your girlfriend with almost no reaction from her was not only disgusting on your part, but kind of disturbing behavior on her part. Get me the hell OUT of this Bermuda Triangle for insanity.

8) To the guy I made out with on my friend’s patio when we were both drunk after killing a bottle of Bicardi Silver and Absolut – I don’t want to date you, and I’m sorry in your eyes that makes me a … what was it again? Callous slut? I didn’t know how to tell you then, or even now, that the inside of my lower lip might still have some residual bleeding. That’s why I said no to giving you my phone number – the thought of kissing you again made me throw up in my mouth a little bit. Don’t worry though; I’ve since slaughtered the friend that caved to pressure and donated my number to your cause. If only you’d stop calling six times a day. It’s been a month.

7) To the guy I met over shared favorite movie lines while our friends were flirting – I invited you to a BBQ at a friend’s house after a few phone conversations in which you expressed a desire to have more female friends and get to know me better. Why you thought five minutes after walking through the door it was sexy or convincing to proposition me (in front of my friends) with, “I just came to fuck. Yes or no so I can plan my night?” still escapes me. Your irritation when I didn’t accept your offer is even more baffling than a heat-wave in January.

6) To the guy who called me “foolish” because I wouldn’t quit my job and move into your house to join the harem you were building in exchange for having my student loans paid off – this is America guy. I’ll pay off my own loans without whoring myself out in the process. Clue: it’s just MONEY. There’s tons of it floating around for those of us willing to work hard for it.

5) To the guy who dated me for three months before one of your posse finally broke it down about your fiancé/girlfriend of FOUR YEARS – seriously, you’re fucked in the head, and where the hell is your fiancé/girlfriend during all this? We were together A LOT – is she brain dead?

4) To the woman who would be an awesome friend if only she’d respect my boundaries – I’m straight. I don’t need to experiment with you to confirm this. Stop trying to kiss me when you’re intoxicated, and if you touch my ass again, we won’t be hanging out any more, and this doesn’t indicate homophobia. It indicates self-respect and/or standards. Take your pick.

3) To the guy who I went on a few dates with who was so nervous around me he either stuttered and/or made fun of me to alleviate his nervousness – they just weren’t good dates, and they didn’t improve over time. I’m sorry, because you’re a genuinely nice person. I’m even more sorry that you told my friends that you would have preferred I lied and pretended to have a boyfriend. I’m not sure I have that much energy in me to spare you from … what did you tell them? “Going on a three-month bender.” After four dates? And I thought I was a little screwy?

2) To the guy who told me to lose five pounds in the same breath he told me to go get him a beer so he didn’t miss any of the game – you are by far one of the most attractive men I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, I’m already fifteen pounds underweight for my height, so additional weight loss would not only make me less attractive, it would make me unhealthy. I might have ignored the comment had a couple of mitigating factors not been present:a) you’re so far out of my intellectual league that every moment spent with you was a shallow trip down idiot lane to a destination called “I Just Want To Look At You,” andb) your denial of a serious substance abuse problem was apparent every time we couldn’t have sex.

1) To the guy who didn’t want to be gay – you’re heads above even #2 in attractiveness, and easily put even my intellect to task. I might suggest a few things to better mask your sexual preferences however:a) asking a group of men, “Do I smell Wisteria?” is a clear sign either you spend too much time with your mother, you’re gay, or you’re a hetero-sexual anomaly,b) touchy-feely with your best male friend is fine when sports are part of the equation, but when one man’s face is really close to another man’s face during conversation or you spend too much time with your arms around eachother’s shoulders, it sends an alert message the same way a fire alarm does,c) pretend you don’t know more about hair products than I do, and finallyd) don’t tell me you’re gay while we’re naked in my bed AFTER we tried to have sex and you couldn’t get it up.

vendredi, août 05, 2005

I'm feeling pretty ambivalent right about now. I don't have any of the "ohmigod this guy just rejected me" feelings. I think my reluctance to surrender to the desire to fall for him (after an initial infatuation-driven confession of love) was because I didn't want to get hurt and because I had some big doubts about our long-term compatibility.

There's a big difference between being in love with someone and loving the feeling you get from how that person treats you. Perhaps it's because he made me feel so amazing about myself that I confused the two. I say this in hindsight, because I only got clarity on the relationship and my own psyche once it was over. It's an important lesson and I feel fortunate to have learned it and emerged almost unscathed emotionally.

Oddly enough, I had a conversation with my boss this week about how (when I was in college) my dream was to join the Peace Corps and my subsequent regrets about choosing my relationship instead of my dream. And then I told him that my dream right now is to move to France and that I don't see myself choosing my relationship/ marriage and family over my dream again. The simple truth is I never saw Harry in the 'moving to France' picture.

I have no regrets about putting myself out there and seeing what's possible. Harry was so not my demographic, but it was good to be in his world for awhile. I tried on a new persona, learned a thing or two about dating, had a lot of fun, got much more comfortable in my own skin, had the priviledge of seeing (and appreciating) myself through someone else's eyes, was treated the way I deserve by a lover, enjoyed being introduced to a whole new world of music and art, and gained so much from the experience.

An Australian university study of 7000 people has found those who drink in moderation have better verbal skills, memory and speed of thinking than those at the extremes of the drinking spectrum.

Researchers say it is a mystery why. The study overturns conventional belief that alcohol kills brain cells, leaving drinkers less well off in the brains department ... people who drink moderate amounts also seem to be healthier, physically and mentally."The research looked at factors including physical health, personality, social lives, social supports, friendships and enemies, and yet these did not explain it" ... there appeared to be no social factors - such as better education of one group - that could explain the phenomenon.

Moderate alcohol consumption was considered to be 14 to 28 standard drinks a week for men and seven to 14 drinks a week for women.Via Matt

jeudi, août 04, 2005

I'm getting ready to rent my second bedroom and have just gotten used to the idea of having a roommate again, despite seeing craigslist postings like these.

My last roommate was cool, but things ended in a weird way after I told her I was moving out one month earlier than she was (I had bought a condo and the seller wouldn't agree to a longer escrow). I got back from a business trip to find my things moved out of the kitchen and bathroom, all my empty boxes stacked on my bed, and this new shower curtain hanging in the bathroom:

mercredi, août 03, 2005

After hearing Harry talk wistfully about frozen custard, I pricked up my ears when I heard the words "frozen custard" on NPR last weekend.

Tonight, I drove to Poway with Harry, hoping to surprise him with frozen custard. But for the second time today, things didn't go according to plan: the shop was closed. And I'll have to take it on faith that eating frozen custard really is like "licking smooth, creamy velvet."

The Sticky Joys of Frozen CustardOne of summer's greatest pleasures is purely sensual. It tastes like the county fair and the beach, the picnic and the park. It's a great, great Amerian classic of small Midwestern towns, and yet because it's hard to make, it's a rare treat. It's frozen custard. You may think you've seen frozen custard, but what you more likely saw was gold, old-fashioned, swirly soft-serve ice cream. Frozen custard is something completely different.

A few years back creationist school curriculum was being declared illegal by court after court. Since creationism pretty much got thrown out of schools, creationists are taking another bite at the apple. They've repackaged creationism as "intelligent design" and have gotten the president to endorse the idea of teaching it in schools.

Bush Remarks Roil Debate on Teaching of EvolutionA sharp debate between scientists and religious conservatives escalated Tuesday over comments by President Bush that the theory of intelligent design should be taught with evolution in the nation's public schools.

In an interview at the White House on Monday with a group of Texas newspaper reporters, Mr. Bush appeared to endorse the push by many of his conservative Christian supporters to give intelligent design equal treatment with the theory of evolution.

Recalling his days as Texas governor, Mr. Bush said in the interview, according to a transcript, "I felt like both sides ought to be properly taught."

Intelligent design ... disputes the idea that natural selection - the force Charles Darwin suggested drove evolution - fully explains the complexity of life. Instead, intelligent design proponents say that life is so intricate that only a powerful guiding force, or intelligent designer, could have created it.

Intelligent design does not identify the designer, but critics say the theory is a thinly disguised argument for God and the divine creation of the universe. Invigorated by a recent push by conservatives, the theory has been gaining support in school districts in 20 states, with Kansas in the lead.

As luck would have it, I bought my copy about three hours before I read this story. But I'll buy the next book recycled.

Made in Canada: Potter on 100% recycled paper[American fans are being urged to buy] "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" — not in the United States but in Canada, where J.K. Rowling's latest book is printed entirely on recycled paper.

A coalition of conservation groups and Rowling herself have likened the mythical Hogwarts forest to old-growth trees used by paper suppliers around the world.

The author and the activists also have praised Raincoast Books, the publisher of Harry Potter books in Canada, for using paper that's recycled and certified as being free of pulp from ancient trees, generally defined as trees that are at least 150 years old.

Raincoast's printing of the book will save 28,000 trees — more than what would fill New York City's Central Park, activists say.

Now the Natural Resources Defense Council, Greenpeace and six other American groups are urging Muggles to boycott Scholastic and buy from Raincoast via one of two Canadian online booksellers: www.amazon.ca or www.chapters.indigo.ca.